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PPW PARTNERS WITH WGBH ON PROJECT ADDRESSING
COMMUNICATION & WARNING NEEDS OF PEOPLE WITH SENSORY DISABILITIES
The Partnership for Public Warning is collaborating with The WGBH National
Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) to unite emergency alert providers,
local information resources, telecommunications industry and broadcasting
representatives, and consumers in a collaborative effort to research and
disseminate replicable approaches to make emergency warnings and community-based
information accessible. This project is funded through the Technology
Opportunity Program of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
NCAM’s Access Alerts Project is charged with developing and encouraging
adoption of standardized methods, systems and services to identify, filter
and present content in ways that are meaningful to people with sensory
disabilities. Project activities include: a needs and resource assessment,
with diverse consumers and within the public warning community; development
of an information model that provides recommended accessibility extensions
to emergency system protocols, technologies and services for wired, wireless,
DTV- and IP-based delivery; and end-user testing that will identify key
usability factors that must be addressed to serve people with disabilities,
including cross platform and cross-environment issues. Numerous national
and grassroots consumer organizations serve as project advisors to ensure
that consumers are active participants in defining the need and determining
how solutions are evaluated. The American Institutes for Research (AIR)
will design and facilitate the end-user testing.
Working Groups
To accomplish these goals, NCAM and the Partnership for Public Warning
(PPW) are establishing a working group within the emergency alert community
to inform this important work. The working group will conduct most of
its work via conference call. Individuals and organizations interested
in this issue are invited to participate on the working group. To participate,
please send an email to information@ppw.us.
This project will also consider the application of the Common Alerting
Protocol to the communication and warning needs of those with sensory
disabilities. Individuals and organizations involved with CAP will also
be invited to participate.
Outcomes
Final deliverables at the end of this three-year project will include:
specifications for the comprehensive metadata that are required to include
people with disabilities in wireless and wired information alert systems;
guidelines for information alert system developers and distributors that
detail effective practices based on usability research, and specify resource
requirements and end-user requirements; and guidelines for local emergency
managers and responders that share lessons learned from the needs assessments
and end-user tests, and provide an accessibility checklist for ensuring
that local information alert systems can serve consumers who are deaf,
hard-of-hearing, blind or have low vision.
Further Information
For additional information regarding this project, contact WGBH’s
project director for the Access Alerts Project: Marcia
Brooks, 617.300.3431.
More information about WGBH’s National Center for Accessible Media
is available at http://ncam.wgbh.org/.
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